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SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's rowing team concluded competition at the 40th San Diego Crew Classic Sunday in impressive fashion, winning a grand final and a petit final on Mission Bay.

UCSD won gold in the Collegiate DII/III/Club Varsity 4+, crossing the finish line in 7:58.30 to top the field in the grand final. The crew of junior coxswain Catherine Sheffler, sophomore Mary Elizabeth Bilder, freshman Shruti Kamath, junior Olivia Knizek and sophomore Rachel Schneiderman beat second-place Central Oklahoma by almost six seconds. UC Irvine was third, Bates was fourth, Portland State took fifth and UC Santa Barbara placed sixth.

"I am really proud of my crew, this is big for us" said Sheffler. "There is a lot of trust that needs to happen between the crew and the coxswain. They rely on me to make the right calls and I need to be confident that they will pull through, and they were able to do that."

UCSD won Saturday's Varsity 4+ prelim, which gave it the preferred lane one in Sunday's grand final.

The Tritons also earned a victory in the Collegiate DII/III/Club Varsity 8 petit final as the JV boat came in with a winning time of 7:25.12. UC Santa Barbara's "B" boat was second in 7:27.58. Portland State took third, Orange Coast College "B" was fourth, Mills placed fifth and Chapman was sixth.

In the grand final of the Varsity 8 San Diego Zoo and Safari Park Cup, UCSD's top boat finished in fourth place, recording a 7:16.25 on the 2,000-meter course. Central Oklahoma won the gold with a time of 7:02.89, just over three seconds in front of UC Santa Barbara's "A" crew. Humboldt State finished third, Orange Coast College "A" was fifth and UC Irvine was sixth.

The Tritons' Novice 8 crew took third in the grand final. Their time of 7:38.97 put them behind winner UC Santa Barbara "A" (7:31.99) and second-place UC Davis "A" (7:37.00). In fourth was UC Santa Barbara "B", followed by Long Beach State, UC Davis "B" and Mills.

UC San Diego also had two boats competing in the Open 8 petit final Sunday. The "B" crew placed fourth (8:00.22), while the "A" boat came in sixth (8:14.22). Colorado Rowing Club won the race with a time of 7:08.70.

UCSD is next in action at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, April 27-28 on Lake Natoma outside of Sacramento.